Jim Ohlschmidt Liner Notes The Genius of Joe Pass, Vestapol 13073 Video, 2001, 1960
"It's unclear how Pass found his way to California that year, . . .
"In 1960, he stood on the steps of Synanon's Santa Monica
drug rehabilitation center holding a gunnysack full of onions,
the only thing he owned. No guitar. No money. No future. No hope.
A sack full of dusty onions and a broken life."
"According to Palmer's article, a former roommate of
Pass, pianist Arnold Ross, convinced him to get with the
Synanon program and clean up his act. It was a particularly
fortuitous decision for Pass: Not only was he in the
company of other jazz musicians in the throes of drug
rehabilitation, but Dick Bock, owner of World Pacific
Records, was one of the clinic's sponsors. Bock recognized
the considerable talents of Pass, Arnold Ross, trumpeter
David Allen, saxophonist Greg Dykes and several other musicians
recovering at the clinic . . ."